"Follow the bouncing ball..."

With spring approaching, I'm thinking about my bike. I love to ride in the city but I know it's very dangerous. I'm a defensive rider, usually taking the sidewalks (yeah I know, but I go slow around pedestrians). The fact is, I just don't trust cars. Intersections are dangerous. All cars are most certainly trying to kill me.

Paranoid or not, every year countless cyclists lose their lives to unaware motorists. Bike lanes improve the odds, but they're certainly not infallible in that at least here in Burlington, I've often observed drivers using them as turn lanes.

Statistics show that America has one of the worst bicycle fatality rates: three times higher than Germany, and six times higher than The Netherlands.

I keep a bike in Amsterdam and it never fails to astonish me how aware the drivers are even as they're speeding from one point to the next. My cousin, who lives there and is an avid cyclist said to me as I hesitated at an intersection, "Don't worry. They can't hit you."

By can't, he meant that the laws were on the cyclists side, and that the cabbies would lose their hack licenses, or worse, and therefore made a point of being more aware, as their livelihood depends on it. Not so much in the US where many (most) at fault drivers end up going unpunished for their obliviousness.

This amusing and enlightening (and very short) video is about awareness. I promise it will surprise you.

For more information on cycling statistics check out this informative site:

Bicycle Almanac - Safety, Fatalities & Injuries

Sent with hope, into the ether..
XXKHT
Damn Boring Birthdays: 3/24 - Steve McQueen (82!); Harry Houdini (138) and 3/25 - Sir Elton John (65!); Aretha "I wanna rock ya" Franklin (70); Anita "hope there is a hell so you can rot in it" Bryant (72); Gloria "yeah baby, burn that bra" Steinem (78); Howard "the mouth" Cosell (92); Arturo Toscanini (148)

Comments

[kayakbiker]

some places are more bike friendly than others. Wear some ugly, florescent clothing so they are more likely to see you in their peripheral vision or while on their cell phone.

Chicago is passing bike laws that are placing more responsibility on motorists.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northwest/chi-chicago-bicycle-lawmar13,1,4740851.story

[Kimberley Taylor]

Yes, get them to judge you and you can't go wrong.
The one instance where tacky is appropriate.
XXKHT